Find them through Google and meetup.com Interact via phone till you visit.Two Great reads, I bought both J.

Does anyone have any encouraging stories of hurdles they faced and overcame to successfully close their first deal? 

great encouragement as well - best of luck to you and your venture...tavisOriginally posted by Eric W:Patrick, I'm just starting myself, but here is how I have managed to find a couple contacts.

I'd encourage you to reach out to more experienced investors in your area!

How do I cut my bill down, or encourage tenants to throw away less?

Again, this is from their website - We encourage buyers, sellers, and homeowners to supplement Zillow's information by doing other research such as: Getting a comparative market analysis (CMA) from a real estate agentGetting an appraisal from a professional appraiserVisiting the house (whenever possible)Why would they mislead consumers by promoting the site as the Real Estate source to count on.

I like the Rialto guys based on the couple interactions I've had with them but there isn't much REO property around here. 

And you'll only have to pay for those lessons once.I would encourage you to do some math on your past deals to see what you would have made if you paid someone to do the work, and again if you used a hard money lender.It'll help shape the way you look at future deals.Congrats and keep flipping. 

I would avoid interacting with them, and you probably want to block some of your own personal content from them, but so long as you can keep your relationship strictly business, I think it probably helps more than it hurts.

I highly encourage you to avoid them.